1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicles for hauling materials and, more specifically, to an apparatus and method for coupling different body types to a truck.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dump trucks and tractor trucks have different hauling bodies for accomplishing different purposes. A dump truck includes a towing engine that is coupled to a hydraulically operated open-box (dump) body that is hinged at the rear. The front of the body can be raised to allow the contents (usually gravel or some type of soil for construction) to be discharged by gravity on the ground behind the truck at the site of delivery.
In contrast, a tractor truck is an articulated truck consisting of a towing engine (tractor) and a trailer body that carries the freight. The trailer remains generally in the same plane as the truck during unloading, which is usually performed by fork lifts.
It is desirous for trucking operations to have trucks with both types of dedicated bodies in order to provide a greater variety of services. However, dump trucks and tractor trucks are costly, each ranging from $90,000 to substantially more. Moreover, each truck requires separate permits, insurance, maintenance and other associated costs. And oftentimes, particularly for smaller operations, only one type of truck is being utilized for a project while the other remains idle. The high cost of a truck and limitations of the dedicated bodies can restrict a trucking operation's ability to expand into different services or cause the trucking operation to risk financial strain in order to expand.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art of vehicles for hauling materials is a truck that can be coupled to different body types in order to expand the utility of the truck and lower overall operations costs. Also needed in the art is for the truck to be interchangeably attachable to a dump body and trailer body, depending of the desired use. Further needed in the art is for the body changeover to be accomplishable by a single person within a short period of time, such as 15 minutes or less.